10 sites proposed to produce marijuana in Ohio

By Marc Kovac | February 10, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS

Sites in Summit and Stark counties are among the 10 proposed to produce marijuana, under a ballot issue being pursued by a group that wants to legalize growth and use of the drug in the state.

Mahoning County would house one of the five proposed testing facilities to check drug supplies for potency and safety.

A property in Hudson and another in Alliance are listed in the potential ballot language, released Monday by ResponsibleOhio.

The Hudson property is at 6333 Hudson Crossing Parkway, according to details available through the Summit County Auditor’s Office. The 29-acre property is in an industrial subdivision.

The Alliance property is on Main Street West in Butler Township in the city’s taxing district, according to parcel data from the Stark County auditor. The 27.18-acre site is described as wooded.

Tax-parcel numbers for the two properties and eight others in Butler, Hamilton, Clermont, Franklin, Licking, Lorain, Lucas and Montgomery counties are included in the full text of ResponsibleOhio’s proposed constitutional amendment to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana for medical and personal uses.

The language calls for the creation of a control commission to regulate marijuana production and sales in the state. It also specifies 10 sites where marijuana could be grown.

Lydia Bolander, a spokeswoman for the campaign, said the locations were chosen to provide geographic diversity for marijuana production.

Additionally, production will take place in facilities to be constructed at each site, using special lighting, heating and other equipment.

“These will be indoor growing locations so that you can have growth all year round,” Bolander said. “They would be large, almost look like a warehouse from the outside.”

ResponsibleOhio has started collecting the initial petition signatures and plans to submit its petition language to the attorney general’s office later this month.

Once approved by the latter and the state Ballot Board, the group can begin collecting the 300,000-plus signatures required to put the amendment before voters.

Gov. John Kasich and other statewide Republican officeholders have said they oppose the proposed ballot issue. Attorney General Mike DeWine has called it a “stupid idea.”